Drummond Group Awarded DOE Funds for Texas Wind Integration Project

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The Department of Energy has selected a Texas Wind Integration project team including Drummond Group Inc., the trusted interoperability test lab, to conduct a regional smart grid demonstration project. Drummond Group's role is overseeing the interoperability focus of this project and leading the testing efforts with strong support from the project stakeholders.

Drummond Group has been testing and certifying the interoperability, security and privacy of transactions for the Fortune 500 and governments across the globe. Bringing our experience to the Smart Grid and specifically for this Wind Integration Project is a thrill

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The Department of Energy has selected a Texas Wind Integration project team including Drummond Group Inc., the trusted interoperability test lab, to conduct a regional smart grid demonstration project. Drummond Group's role is overseeing the interoperability focus of this project and leading the testing efforts with strong support from the project stakeholders. The Texas Wind Integration project will be coordinated through the Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies (CCET).

"Drummond Group has been testing and certifying the interoperability, security and privacy of transactions for the Fortune 500 and governments across the globe. Bringing our experience to the Smart Grid and specifically for this Wind Integration Project is a thrill," says Rik Drummond, CEO Drummond Group Inc. and newly selected Governing Board Member of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel. "This work will be an important cornerstone for the interoperability of Wind Energy management and related systems."

The project will focus on improved monitoring of the grid and the management, storage, use of distributed generation and expansion of demand response capabilities to assist with wind resource integration. Texas currently has the largest wind generation capability in the United States. This project will demonstrate how to manage the fluctuations in wind power within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) transmission grid through synchrophasor monitoring capabilities, enhanced operator visualization, and improved load management. The project will work to enhance the new Smart Meter Texas Common Web Portal for handling demand response events within the grid. The project also includes a demonstration of a modernized "Deep Green" community that utilizes integrated Smart Grid technologies, including household and community battery storage, smart meters and appliances, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and homes equipped with 1-3 kW solar photovoltaics.

The Texas Wind Integration project team consists of electric companies, meter companies, third-party vendors and tech firms with coordination from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Drummond Group Inc. Total estimated cost for the project is $27 million, half of which DoE will provide through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The project's participants will provide the remaining funds.

In addition, Drummond Group is a member of the team selected by the DoE last week to create a $178 million demonstration project in a five-state Pacific Northwest region. Drummond Group will be working on interoperability testing and certification of Northwest Smart Grid Demo technologies. DGI's CEO, Rik Drummond, was also selected recently as a Governing Board member of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel for the Testing and Certification Vendor Stakeholder category.

About Drummond Group Inc.
Drummond Group Inc. (DGI) is the trusted interoperability test lab which works with standards groups, software/firmware vendors and industry groups to drive adoption of standards by offering global interoperability and conformance testing, and certification. DGI facilitates these testing services under association-branded certification programs and its own Drummond Certified(R) program. Founded in 1999, DGI also represents best-of-breed in strategic interoperability consulting recognizing the challenges of interoperability for industry over the product life cycle.

DGI provides interoperability certification for M2M or business-to- business (B2B) standards which are used for the Fortune 500 financial nformation flow, representing billions of dollars per year. Cyber security of data transfer is critically tested.

Drummond Group tests for the Liberty Interoperable program and KANTARA to provide interoperability testing for Identity information exchange for the US government and the global leaders in identity.

Drummond Certified(R) software and firmware is required in RFP's around the globe to ensure seamless, secure, interoperable products which make implementation easy, thereby significantly reducing costs.

For more information, visit drummondgroup.com or contact info2 at drummondgroup.com